Four works have been selected for development during the two-week Lab at MASS MoCA.

Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater
Russell Rowland

Sundance Institute’s Theatre Program has announced the four projects selected for development during its two-week Lab at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). The lab runs December 4-18.

Among the works is a stage musical adaptation of the 1995 film Ma Vie En Rose, which explores the life of a seven-year-old tran girl. It is being written by Tony Award-winning Spring Awakening collaborators Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater.

Another film-to-stage project in development is the Michael R. Jackson-Anna K. Jacobs musical Teeth, based on the horror film about a teenager who has teeth in her vagina.

Here’s a look at the selected works:

Ma Vie En RoseBook and Lyrics by Steven SaterMusic by Duncan SheikWhat does it mean to be a seven-year-old trans girl in a backwater world which has never heard the word trans? Before the reality shows, before even the internet, in a rural Belgian village circa 1995, Ludo announces to his (mortified) parents that he is in fact a she – and, as such, intends to marry Dad’s boss’ son.

Club DiamondCreated and written by Saori Tsukada and Nikki AppinoComposed/Music Direction by Tim FainA young woman travels alone from Tokyo to New York City to be a star. This narrative unfolds using old-fashioned storytelling techniques from the East and the West including a silent film, Benshi (live narration) and Kami-shibai (paper-play). Club Diamond is a solo work created by Japanese theater artist Saori Tsukada, and American theatre artist and filmmaker Nikki Appino, in collaboration with composer/violinist Tim Fain.

TeethBook by Michael R. Jackson and Anna K. JacobsMusic by JacobsWords by JacksonDirected by Marlo HunterBased on the film Teeth by Mitchell LichtensteinAdapted from the 2007 Sundance Film Festival Award-winning indie horror film by Mitchell Lichtenstein, Teeth tells the story of Dawn O’Keefe, an evangelical Christian teen with a secret: she has teeth in her vagina. When the men in Dawn’s life try to exploit her, she must confront the teeth and decide which part of herself to save, and which to sacrifice.

36 Abbas Street, HaifaWritten and performed by Raeda TahaDirected by Junaid SarieddeenA story of two Palestinian families: the Rafis, Palestinians who stayed in Palestine as hostages to fate, becoming citizens of the Jewish state of Israel, and the Abu Ghaidas, forced to leave and wander all corners of the world in search of a country they can call their own.